The Plan

Jiuzhou Automobile Factory, the factory director's office.

The New Year had passed, and everything was getting back on track.

The Jiuzhou factory had operated normally throughout the holiday, and now everyone had returned to their usual work schedules.

Leaning back in his office chair, Xu Yifan gazed up at the ceiling. Scenes from the New Year holiday surfaced in his mind once more, and a smile crept onto his lips.

The warmth of reuniting with family had made everything feel so wonderful!

Come to think of it, Xu Yifan had been nearly thirty in his previous life, too.

After being reborn into this body, he'd felt conflicted about his family. He'd wanted to get closer to them, but also felt awkward about it.

After going home for the New Year this time, that awkwardness had faded considerably, replaced by a greater sense of happiness.

He didn't know whether his parents and relatives in this life were simply wonderful, or if all ordinary families were like this. The holiday had felt like a dream.

He'd gone shopping for New Year's goods with his parents, talked with them about the company, and listened as his dad, who'd run a company for decades, offered advice on how to develop it.

The whole family had shared New Year's Eve dinner and watched the Spring Festival Gala together.

He'd exchanged New Year's greetings with relatives and friends, and under his dad's guidance, met several prominent businessmen from the provincial capital, as well as government officials...

The connections built up over several generations were gradually being shown to him.

They might not seem particularly useful now, but someday, when he needed them, they might provide him with tremendous help.

Of course, Xu Yifan didn't really care much about any of that.

What mattered more was spending time with his family!

His mother was a little strict and nagging, but he could still clearly feel how much she cared for him.

She kept his dad from smoking, told him to drink less, saved the best food for her son, urged him to eat more meat and drink more milk, and reminded him to exercise regularly.

His gentle father always wore a smile, and even spoiled his son a little.

Xu Yifan had imagined scenes like this countless times before, but in his previous life, not once had they come true.

During the New Year, he'd usually focused on avoiding his relatives and finding somewhere to get something to eat. He'd tried to stay away from home whenever he could. He'd always been all alone.

But from now on, everything would be different!

Even just remembering it brought a wide smile to Xu Yifan's face.

But the New Year holiday was over, and everyone had to return to work.

His parents had to go back to work and take care of the company, busy with their own responsibilities.

And Xu Yifan had to manage Jiuzhou Automobile.

After a long while, Xu Yifan finally came back to himself, having relived the New Year holiday in his mind once more.

It was time to deal with business!

With a thought, the system panel appeared before him.

[Super Factory System: Level 1]

[Funds: 28.95 million]

[Buildings: Production Workshop Level 1, Research and Development Center Level 1, Battery Research and Development Center Level 1, Employee Dormitory Level 1, Cafeteria Level 1, Warehouse Level 1, Office Building Level 2]

[Employees: 587 (Satisfaction: 67%)]

[Product: Jiuzhou Mini (Old Man Happy) (Production technology: average) (Product quality: average) (Annual output: over 20,000)]

[Technology: None (A garbage company with no core technology of its own!)]

Compared with before the New Year, the company's funds had risen a little. It had made a few million, but if he hadn't spent a large sum, it would have had over thirty million.

Besides that, they'd hired some more employees, and satisfaction had gone up a little.

Then there was the progress on developing the new lithium iron phosphate battery technology.

At Xu Yifan's prompting, the detailed information for the Battery Research and Development Center appeared.

[Battery Research and Development Center Level 1]

[Research Project: New Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Technology, Progress: 96%]

The project was almost complete!

Xu Yifan did some quick calculations. "It'll probably take a little over a week to finish developing the new lithium iron phosphate battery technology. Then Jiuzhou Automobile Factory will have technology of its own!"

Besides the eight million he'd spent earlier to speed up development, Xu Yifan had spent another three million over the New Year holiday to increase progress by ten percent.

Perhaps this technical hurdle hadn't been particularly difficult, and they hadn't needed to bring in outside help.

The researchers had been working themselves into a frenzy, staying up all night and losing their hair. With a little bit of "luck," they'd managed to overcome the minor technical hurdle in just three days.

Both Xu Yifan and the researchers were extremely pleased with the result.

"I love work! Nobody can stop me from working! I'll die in the lab if I have to!"

"The New Year? What's that? Isn't making three million better?"

"I'll give everything I've got to Jiuzhou! I'll burn myself out for the cause!"

"I'll work myself to the bone! I have to make sure the boss gets his money's worth!"

"I'm not sleeping until the project's done! Aaaah!"

"I can actually make this much money? Knowledge really is wealth!"

"Don't hold me back! I want to experiment! I have to experiment!"

"Rest? Time is money, guys! Experiment, experiment! Get moving, and get those brains turning!"

Remembering those fanatical researchers, Xu Yifan was a little frightened by just how intense they'd been!

He quickly shook his head, banishing the memory of handing out their pay during the holiday.

"Besides the eleven million spent speeding up research, and the costs of setting up the lab, paying employees, and so on, the total comes to only about fifteen million."

"Fifteen million to develop a new lithium iron phosphate battery? That's a fantastic deal!"

"But the battery will soon be finished, and I'll need to spend a lot more money after that."

Once the battery technology was complete, they'd need to apply it to an actual product and build a new battery factory. Building the factory, hiring employees, and all the rest would cost money!

The 29 million might look like a lot, but it wouldn't last long if he spent it freely.

"Damn it, why can't the system just give me the technology and the product? Wouldn't that be great!"

Xu Yifan sighed and calculated how much money he'd need to spend next.

First, ten million couldn't be touched.

That money had to cover materials and production for the Jiuzhou Mini, as well as advance payments if they later contracted another car factory to manufacture it. It was essential working capital that had to be kept in reserve.

"Besides that, there's another nineteen million. Let's call it twenty."

"Once the battery development project is complete, I should avoid spending too much on speeding up research until I have more funds. I should put more money toward expanding production capacity."

"Batteries are one of the key components needed for the Jiuzhou Mini and the other models we'll make in the future. The more we can produce, the better."

After giving it some thought, Xu Yifan decided to spend fifteen million building a battery factory that could supply batteries for about 200,000 Jiuzhou Mini cars a year.

Compared with cars, which had complicated manufacturing processes and numerous parts, battery factories were much simpler to build. And their production capacity didn't have to be pinched as tightly as a car factory's.

In 2009, fifteen million was enough to establish a very respectable battery factory.

That factory should be sufficient for Jiuzhou over the next two years.

Xu Yifan planned to use the remaining five million, along with the profits from Jiuzhou Mini over the coming months, to manufacture the company's next product.